Leadership Defined

What is Leadership? There are many schools of thought on its definition.  I believe that leadership is the ability and distinct proclivity to create a provocation that inspires others to achieve their personal and organizational goals. Leadership happens through a leader's capacity to transfer something of intrinsic value to the follower. My personal definition of leadership is that “it is a privileged opportunity to positively influence others towards success”. If a leader has nothing of value to offer, then they are just in a leadership position in name only. Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee (2002) stated that great leaders move us and inspire the best in us. This type of influences and ability to moves others come from a place of trust and confidence. Northouse (2004) defined leadership as the process where an individual can influence another to achieve a common goal. Further, Jones (1995) stated that great leaders inspire themselves in the practice of encouraging others. In the United States Marine Crops, leadership is influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization. The definition of leadership is hard to capture, because it has different meanings to different people, but the common theme is influence. In fact, Bennis (2003) compared leadership to beauty by stating that it is difficult to define, but you know it when you see it. This article is aimed at providing some simple, yet effective ideas about leadership, how it compares and contrasts with management, that we all should be aware of in order to hone and develop our own leadership capabilities.  

Effective leadership is used to harvest and measure excellence in both people and organizations. How do we become leaders? I believe we must first understand that Leadership is a process. It does not occur overnight; it is a challenge and must be developed on a constant and continual basis because it is a dynamic and evolutionary process that must be nurtured and shaped. Trial and error, failure and success will develop us in to the leaders we are meant to be. It takes time to develop good leadership and the reality is that leadership is so conceptual and ever changing that it can never be truly mastered. For this reason it requires continuous work. 

Next we must accept the fact that Leadership is action, not the position, popularity, or status we hold in an organization, team or unit. In fact, Goleman (2002) concluded that 50 to 70 percent of how employees perceive their organization’s climate can easily be traced to the actions of the leader’s. Many people would argue that leaders are born and not made. However, I agree with Koestenbaum (2002), Kouzes and Posner (2007), and many others who stated that leadership can and must be learned. Munroe (2005) is convinced that leadership is not just for an elite group who were born with it, but it begins in the spirit of a person. As a leader, I see leadership as a sublimated love or passion for creating a positive effect on the lives of others, organizations, and society. Mentors and other great leaders most effectively learn leadership through behavioral modeling and skill transfer. Below are some of my favorite statements that help to define leadership:

“Everything rises and falls on leadership” – John Maxwell,

“Leadership is everyone’s business” – Barry Posner

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves” – Lao Tzu

“Where there is no vision, the people perish” – Proverbs 29:18

“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality” – Warren Bennis

“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant” – Max DePree

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others” – Jack Welch

“Leadership is lifting a person's vision to high sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations” – Peter Drucker

Leadership vs. Management

There have been many illuminating debates over the years concerning the differences or similarities between leadership and management.  Many people would argue that there are major differences in the concepts and precepts of leadership and management because you lead and love people from the emotional state of mind (heart) and manage processes, ideas, and things through a logical state of mind (head). Having said this, one could postulate that leadership and management debates will probably continue well into the future because of the opposing differences in philosophical viewpoints based on unique organizational dynamics. 

Having served as a leader and a manager over the past 20 years in the Marine Corps, I am inclined to believe that there are similarities as well as differences in leadership and management.  Equally important, experience has proven that in some cases leadership and management overlap because organizations consist of behavior (emotional) and task (production) relationships. However, I do not believe that they are one and the same. Some similarities of leadership and management are they involve influence, require working with people, and concern with effective goal accomplishment (Northouse, 2004).  Leadership and management skills are crucial to being an effective leader.  Moye (2004) echoed this point by stating that the best leaders are good managers and the best managers are good leaders, but managing is a subset of leading. She went on to say that managers control or direct something such as people, a unit, or a project, whereas leaders influence and persuade people.  Bennis (2003) highlights the following differences in leadership and management: leaders do the right thing, and managers do things right, leaders develop and managers maintain, leaders focus on the future and managers focus on the bottom line, and managers accept the status quo while leaders challenge it and initiate change. I must agree with Northouse who stated that effective organizations need to nourish competent management and leadership skills. 

It is often stated that managers are not leaders and that the world is full of managers and desperately short of leaders.  Most organizations have many managers, per job titles, and very few leaders. Therefore, quite naturally, most organizations’ professional development training is designed for managers and not leaders. Maxwell (1999) stated that titles do not have much value when it comes to leading.  Moreover, managers can maintain direction, but can’t change it.  However, a leader’s influence can move people in a new direction. Perhaps it is time for organizations to change job titles from management to leadership and focus on developing leaders instead of managers. Management is a function that has been exercised in corporate businesses for years, and most effective organizations got it right.  However, Bennis (2003) points out the need for leadership in organizations.  He went on to say that we cannot function without leaders. Further, our quality of life depends on the quality of our leaders. Based on this premise, perhaps organizations should place more emphasis on leadership to meet the many challenging demands of a constantly changing and dynamic work environment.  Although, many argue about the differences in leadership and management, they both are essential for an organization to prosper. Imagine leaders within organizations who have great leadership and management skills; this would be a powerful combination. 

References

Bennis, W. (2003). On becoming a leader. New York: Perseus Publishing.

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. & McKee, A. (2002). Primal leadership: Realizing the power of emotional intelligence. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Jones, L.B. (1995). Jesus, CEO: Using ancient wisdom for visionary leadership. New York: Hyperion.

Koestenbaum, P. (2002). Leadership: The inner side of greatness. A philosophy for leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kouzes, J. M. & Posner, B. Z. (2007). The leadership challenge (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Inc

Maxwell, J.C. (1999). The 21 indispensable qualities of a leader: Becoming the person others will want to follow. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc. 

Moye, J. (2004, November/December). “Leadership vs. management” special interest group. AAACN Viewpoint.

Munroe, M. (2005). The spirit of leadership. New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House.

Northouse, P. G. (2004). Leadership: Theory and practice (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.